Redstone competency case abruptly dismissed by judge

Shari Redstone, vice-chairwoman of CBS and Viacom, and media mogul Sumner RedstoneÂs daughter, in Palm Beach, Fla., March 10, 2016. Redstone says she has patched up her relationship with her father as a legal battle looms over money and power in the family business. (Ryan Stone/The New York Times)

Photo: RYAN STONE, STR

LOS ANGELES - The lawsuit over the mental competency of ailing mogul Sumner Redstone was dismissed Monday, cutting short a trial that had transfixed Hollywood and Wall Street because of its lurid details and the potential impact on Redstone's $42 billion media empire.

Judge David Cowan of Los Angeles County Superior Court announced the dismissal Monday morning in proceedings that lasted less than half an hour.

The court rejected claims by the plaintiff, Manuela Herzer, a former lover of Redstone's, who said he did not have the mental capacity to make the decision in October that removed her from his health care directive. The judge appeared swayed by the videotaped testimony from the 92-year-old billionaire that was shown Friday, in which he said he did not want Herzer in charge of his care, or in his life at all.

While the ruling brought this suit to an abrupt ending, the legal tussling and the potential for more salacious disclosures appear likely to continue.

Pierce O'Donnell, a lawyer for Herzer, said he planned to appeal the decision and that Herzer has filed a $100 million suit against Redstone's daughter, Shari, her adult sons Tyler and Brandon Korff, and a team of nurses and other employees of Sumner Redstone.

Prurient allegations

The suit said that Shari Redstone was at the center of a "spy network" that manipulated, abused, lied to and unduly influenced her father. That legal battle would be decided by a jury, rather than by a judge.

The dismissal is a clear legal victory for Redstone and, by extension, his daughter.

In a statement, Shari Redstone said: "I am grateful to the court for putting an end to this long ordeal. I am so happy for my father that he can now live his life in peace, surrounded by his friends and family."

Yet there is no question that the court fight sullied both sides, industry observers said, with its thousands of pages of filings that included embarrassing and prurient allegations about Sumner Redstone's obsession with sexual partners, incontinence and demands to eat steak while on a feeding tube.

Herzer was depicted as a gold digger who manipulated her relationship with Redstone for financial gain.

CBS and Viacom

While the suit concerned his personal estate, it set off investor concern about Redstone's position and corporate governance issues at the top of the media empire that includes CBS and Viacom, two of the world's largest entertainment companies.

Redstone is a director, chairman emeritus and controlling shareholder of both companies.

Cowan stressed in his ruling that he was not making a finding related to Redstone's mental capacity or the credibility of Herzer or Shari Redstone, but was focusing on the issue of Sumner Redstone's health care.

"The court is finding only that the 'proceeding is not reasonably necessary to protect the interests of the patient,' " Cowan wrote. "Specifically, Herzer cannot be restored as his agent and Redstone is satisfied with the care he is receiving and to be with his family."

The trial opened Friday with 18 minutes of videotaped testimony from Sumner Redstone, who had not been seen publicly for nearly a year and had made no public declarations related to the suit since it was filed in November by Herzer.